1988 Chevy Camaro Air Suspension - Camaro Cool-Ride Kit

Taking the Rock Out of IROC

By now the burgundy '88 Camaro IROC-Z gracing these pages has become a familiar sight to Super Chevy readers. In past issues, you have witnessed everything from its cosmetic transformation using Auto Air Colors' waterborne paint, to brake and suspension upgrades featuring Baer Brakes and Hotchkis Performance. In this month's issue, we are extracting the Hotchkis Performance Sports coil springs (PN#1903) from all four corners and replacing them with front and rear Cool-Ride kits from Air Ride Technologies. The reasoning behind the switch, first and foremost, was to improve the '88's ride quality. In 1982, when the new F-body debuted, its claim to fame for Camaro-performance freaks was that the new Z28 could out pull the '82 Corvette on the skidpad. Unfortunately along with improved handling, the new Camaros also gained a reputation for riding like a steel-wheeled skateboard. For high-performance Camaro fanatics, living with a stiff ride has come to be an accepted price to pay for skidpad superiority.

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Here are the front and rear AirRide Technologies Cool-Ride kits for our '88 IROC, including the ARC4000e 4 Way compressor system. Between the three kits, we had everything needed to handle the job. After securing our Camaro on the two-post, John removed all four wheels, which would be a pain-a big one. This job, however, could be done with the car on jackstands.

On March 7, 2005, Air Ride Technologies announced the arrival of its Cool-Ride kits for the '82-'92 Camaro. The best way for us to describe the content of the release is simply to quote it: "Air Ride Technologies has finished development for the '82-'92 Camaro F-body cars. The front Cool-Ride kit consists of an air spring and bracket assembly, which directly replaces the coil spring. Your factory or aftermarket strut assembly remains intact. This kit is also compatible with any performance replacement strut on the market. The Rear Cool-Ride kit directly replaces the OEM coil spring. The handling and performance are increased dramatically with this kit. If you pair it up with a four-wheel independent control system, you will be able to manipulate this system to get your car to handle and launch exactly how you want it to.

It was great to learn that Air Ride Technologies had released a kit specifically designed to fit our '88 IROC-Z, but its product release didn't quite answer our main concern. What we were looking for was an assurance that our IROC's ride quality would improve. The next step in our information quest was to log onto Air Ride Technologies' Web site and search for Frequently Asked Questions - Bingo! Here's what they had to say: "How is the ride quality? Wonderful! If you closed your eyes, you would swear that you were in a new luxury car. The ride quality is also adjustable to your taste from inside the vehicle. (Try that with a coilover or leaf spring!)."

Dependability concerns? For those of you unfamiliar with air suspension, or perhaps even hold a low opinion of it based on what you've heard from a fellow that had a friend who knew someone that lived next door to a guy that had bad luck with airbags, we'll give a quick response. First off, it seems the subject of air-ride suspension is like a Harley-Davidson; there's always some guy who has never owned one who can tell you all about them. Not wanting to be one of "those guys," there are a few of us at Super Chevy who currently have air-ride on our vehicles along with firsthand experience.

Without starting an argument, it's hard to say whether the first guys bagging their rides were street-rodders or mini-truckers. It seemed to occur around the same period in time (mid-1990s). The one thing for sure is, it was the mini-truckers who pushed the limits on how low a vehicle can go. The last thing a mini-trucker was or is concerned about is ride or reliability; the whole purpose is to lay absolutely flat on the ground. Consequently, spotting trucks at the side of the road (especially around a truck run) with broken homemade or even so-called professional custom-fabricated air-ride setups is not all that hard to do.

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1988 Chevy Camaro Air Suspension - Camaro Cool-Ride Kit

Here are the front and rear AirRide Technologies Cool-Ride kits for our '88 IROC, including the ARC4000e 4 Way compressor system. Between the three kits, we had everything needed to handle the job. After securing our Camaro on the two-post, John removed all four wheels, which would be a pain-a big one. This job, however, could be done with the car on jackstands.

Air Ride Technologies' '82-'92 Camaro Cool-Ride Kit is compatible with OEM and aftermarket suspension and brake components, including these aftermarket Baer brakes.

The left- and right-side links to the Hotchkis Performance front sway bar were unbolted then disconnected. Note: PN#1903 Hotchkis Performance Sports coil spring is behind John's right hand at top.

A sharp blow with a 2-pound hammer to the sides of the tie-rod ends and ball joints was all that was needed to separate them.

The two bolts attaching the Tokico shock absorber strut to the steering spindle were unbolted and removed.

With the lower control-arm bolts removed, John took the control arms completely off of the car. Note: the Tokico shock strut was left attached at the top, and the Baer brake caliper was supported to prevent the brake flex-hose from being damaged.

To install the air-spring plates, John used the factory bumpstop to index the spring plate to the lower control arm. He then drilled two 3/8-inch holes through the control arm.

Here's the control arm with the two 3/8x1 1/4-inch bolts attaching the spring plate. The factory bumpstop serves as the third attaching point. Note: there is a driver- and passenger-side spring plate.

Standing directly under the car looking straight up into the coil-spring pocket, one can see where John used soapstone to mark the area of the lip that needed to be removed. Next in line was to drill a 7/16-inch hole through the center of the spring pocket using the hole in the center of the notch as a drill guide. Dean looked inside the engine compartment to check there were no fuel lines or wire looms running directly over the area to be drilled.

Using a plasma cutter to remove the lip. Note: area being trimmed away.

After fastening the spring cup to the airbag with two 5/16-inch Nylok nuts, John screwed the 6-inch stud into the nut on the spring plate. Note: the brass fitting for the air supply line has been tightened to align with the opening in the spring cup.

With the airbag stuffed into the spring pocket and fastened at the top (accessed from inside the engine compartment), the 3/8x3/4-inch bolt with lock and flat washer were used to attach the airbag to the spring plate.

Here's the completed front airbag assembly in place. Notice the air line facing downward, ready to be routed to the air supply. The next step was to install the rear air springs.

With the differential supported under the pumpkin, John disconnected the rear sway bar, shock absorbers, then dropped the differential downward...

...and removed the rear coil spring.

Before the rear bag could be installed, the top bag bracket and brass air-line fitting was attached to the airbag. The necessary mounting holes were drilled and then...

...the airbag was bolted into place.

The lower spring plate was set over the spring pad on the rearend.

It was necessary to cut down the rear bumpstop; failure to do so will not allow the car to drop to its lowest position when aired out.

After completion, this is how our rear suspension appeared.

Here, John is tightening the brass air-line fittings into the Air Ride Technologies air compressor; notice he is supporting the air compressor with his other hand.

Thanks to prewired assemblies, hooking up the air-valve solenoids was relatively simple.

To prevent any chance of air leaks caused by the air hose being punctured from to unseen sharp protruding edges or friction caused by suspension travel, Dean slides a 3/8-inch hose over the air lines supplied with the Cool-Ride kit.

Once a spot was located to mount the air compressor, the template included in the kit was used to drill the mounting holes. The professionals at Dean's went above the call of duty by fabricating a mounting plate for the compressor and solenoids. This plate was then attached to the car's floor inside the spare tire compartment in the rear quarter.

After the compressor and solenoids, the air tank was installed in the lowest part of the Camaro's trunk. The tank also came with a template to drill the holes, that way there is no second guessing or redrilling new holes.

John peeled back the carpeting, drilled holes in the floor, and then routed the wires from the computer (which controls the air-spring pressure), to the solenoids in the rear truck. The firewall was also drilled to run a 12-volt lead from the battery to the air supply mounted in the trunk.

From the front to the back, the wires were run through the floor and underneath the vehicle.

After all the work is done, everything tucks neatly away and out of sight in the spare tire well.

You can see that we put the controller in the middle of the Camaro's dash, that way if we desire, we can monitor bag pressure with the glance of an eye.

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